The 2023 Beychevelle is a dark, brooding wine. Blackberry, gravel, dried herbs, chocolate, menthol and incense stain the palate. Time in the glass brings out the wine's freshness and energy, along with a surprising amount of tension. In many recent vintages, Beychevelle has been quite racy and opulent. The 2023, on the other hand, displays elements of youthful classicism that will require a few years to mellow. I expect it will age gracefully for decades.
TWI
96pts
The Wine Independent
93-96+ 2023 Beychevelle has a fine, precise cassis infused nose. The taste is elegant, rounded and stuffed with cranberries, blackberries and a fine layer of supporting tannins. This vintage of Beychevelle is one of the best examples this chateau has produced recently and it seems like the winemaking at Beychevelle has been taken to new heights with this elegant, precise and pure wine. It will be interesting to follow.
A deep, youthful nose of ripe black cherries, mulberries, graphite and a touch of violets. Fine-boned and structured, showing more poise and elegance than sheer power and density. A precise, medium- to full-bodied wine with good acidity and a long finish. Drink from 2028.
A brilliant wine that makes the most of the vintage, the 2023 Château Beychevelle sports sensational aromatics of cassis and lively berries intermixed with sappy tobacco, spring flowers, graphite, and a wonderful sense of minerality. It's medium to full-bodied and silky on the palate, with ripe, polished tannins, perfectly integrated acidity, and a gorgeous finish. The balance, purity, and just overall harmony here are top-notch, and while I like it even today, it will cruise for 25 years in a cold cellar. This is a legit fabulous 2023 that deserves a place in the cellar. Drink 2026-2051.
93-94 The 2023 Beychevelle has turned out especially well this year, exhibiting a more integrated, seductive style than recent vintages that were constructed in a punchier, more extracted register. Offering up aromas of cassis and plums mingled with notions of pen ink, violets and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with a deep core of fruit and a classy, suave profile that foregrounds the estate's prime vineyard holdings on the plateau around Ducru-Beaucaillou. It's a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot that represents 50% of the estate's production.
Fragrant and floral note, fully expressive aromatically with strawberries and red cherries, you can definitely smell the Petit Verdot on the nose - intense. Clean and clear, a lovely weight in the mouth. Smooth but grippy too, tannins are svelte and super fine, this has nice ripe fruit, good body and mouthfeel and a long finish. Juicy, almost fleshy, this has some weight in the mouth. I like the depth, this has some chew, a soft hint of sweetness plus creamy chalkiness plus a lovely lift on the finish. Cool and crisp but well managed. Really excellent and very accessible, juicy and elegant. Highest ever proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. 6% press wine. Yields around 50hl/ha. 50% grand vin production. Ageing 18 months, 70% new oak. 1/3 aged in one year barrels.
This is lovely, with gently crushed blueberry, açaí and blackberry fruit flavors that are fresh and delineated, carried by a subtle graphite note and gilded with violet and anise through the sleek, focused finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2027 through 2040.